1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a display substrate, a method of fabricating the same, and a display panel having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display substrate for liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most widely used types of flat panel displays. An LCD includes two substrates provided with field-generating electrodes and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed therebetween. The LCD displays images by applying voltages to the field-generating electrodes to provide an electric field in the LC layer, which determines orientations of LC molecules in the LC layer to affect the polarization of light passing therethrough.
Typically, one substrate includes a plurality of gate lines, a plurality of data lines across the gate lines, and pixels defined by the gate lines and the data lines. Each pixel includes a pixel electrode and a thin film transistor to control a voltage applied to the pixel electrode. During manufacture, the thin film transistor array substrate is typically exposed to high temperatures in the range of about 250° C. to about 400° C. For example, in order to deposit a conventional gate insulating layer and a conventional semiconductor layer on the array substrate through a plasma chemical vapor deposition process, the array substrate may be exposed to temperatures above 250° C.
Recently, thin film transistor array substrates formed of organic material have been developed. Such substrates may be formed at low temperatures and may include a gate insulating layer formed of organic insulating material and a channel layer formed of an organic semiconductor.
However, the surface of the gate insulating layer may become damaged during the formation of a pixel electrode thereon. Such surface damage can cause defects in the organic semiconductor formed on the gate insulating layer, resulting in reduced transmittance of the pixel electrode. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved approach to organic thin film transistors that reduces the potential surface damage to gate insulating layers associated with existing designs.